Eagles on TV/Radio/Webcasts . . .All EWU home games will be televised live and/or delayed
on SWX in Spokane (SWX Digital 6.2, Cheney Cable 12, Comcast 115,
Time Warner 306, Charter 287). Eagle Radio Broadcasts home and
away in 2009-10 may be heard live, and stations in
Spokane/Cheney that may be used are 1510-AM, 1050-AM or 790-AM.
Broadcasts may also be heard via the internet -- road games may be
heard free of charge via WWW.TEAMLINE.CC and the audio and
video of home games may also be heard via WWW.BIGSKYTV.ORG.

The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team faces
perhaps its sternest test of the season when it plays at Mountain
West Conference foe Brigham Young on Saturday (Dec. 19). Tipoff at
the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, is 6 p.m. Pacific time.

The Cougars are 9-1 thus far following a 77-61 victory over
Wagner on Thursday (Dec. 17). The same night, Eastern lost 73-70 at
Nevada on a three-pointer with 4.3 seconds to play to fall to 4-6
on the season.

Eastern head coach Kirk Earlywine knows his
Eagles will have their hands full in Provo, but is hopeful his team
can have the same kind of effort on the road as they had at Nevada
in a game that featured 15 ties and seven lead changes before being
decided in the final seconds.

"They are in the top 40 nationally right now and they are as
good as Nevada or better," Earlywine said of BYU. "It's a tough
place to play and we have to play them within 48 hours (of playing
Nevada). I could have a long list of reasons why they should beat
us on Saturday, but you know what, none of those matter. We have to
play back-to-back on the road in the Big Sky Conference too, but we
have to play Friday-Saturday instead of Thursday-Saturday.

"We'll prepare for BYU on Friday and Saturday and get our guys
ready to play," he added. "I'll be very, very disappointed -- even
upset -- if we don't come out and play our butts off and play hard
on Saturday night."

Eastern then closes its pre-Christmas schedule with two games at
the Hoop TV Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena (Dec. 22-23).
Eastern will take on Chicago State (currently 3-6) in a night game
on Dec. 22, then turnaround less than 24 hours later and play an
afternoon game versus either Wagner or Jackson State. Both games
will be available via webcast at http://www.hooptv.net.

"It will be a good test for us," said Eastern head coach
Kirk Earlywine. "Ideally I would rather not be on
the road for eight days traveling. But it's a time where we can
have some good practices with a full roster. We haven't had that to
this point."

Following a short Christmas break, the Eagles play at
nationally-ranked Gonzaga on Dec. 28 before hosting Sacramento
State in a Big Sky Conference game on Dec. 31 at 3:05 p.m.

Eastern faced a grueling early-season schedule with eight games
in a 22-day span. The Eagles then had a week off for fall quarter
final exams at EWU before facing the full-court pressure of a very
athletic and talented Seattle University team. Despite playing with
four freshmen at times in their lineup, the Eagles had just 15
turnovers in the game and used a 7-0 run in overtime to prevail
100-97.

More About Eastern's Upcoming Opponents:
Brigham Young is 9-1 thus far heading into Saturday's home game
against the Eagles. Led by averages of 17.7 points and 5.4 assists
per game by 6-2 guard Jimmer Fredette, the lone loss for the
Cougars came against Utah State (71-61) on Dec. 2. Their wins have
included victories over Idaho State (87-53), Weber State (87-70),
Hawaii (83-65), Arizona State (81-68) and Fresno State (72-67).

Chicago State is currently 3-6 with a five-game losing streak
heading into a game against Tulsa (Dec. 19) before playing the
Eagles. Wagner is 1-8 heading into a Dec. 19 game at Nevada after
opening the season with seven-straight losses. Jackson State is 0-8
heading into a Dec. 19 game at Nebraska.

TEAM NOTES

The Dunn and Dean Show: Senior Mark
Dunn and freshman Glen Dean have each had
six double figure scoring performances this season, and they
combined for 28 points in EWU's loss at Nevada on Dec. 17. Dunn
leads the team in scoring with an average of 13.3 points per game,
and is shooting a team-best 57.6 percent from the field. Dean is
averaging 10.1 points and leads EWU with an average of 4.3 points
per game.

Dean had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 10 assists in
Eastern's three-point loss at Nevada on Dec. 17, earning high
praise from head coach Kirk Earlywine. Dean
equaled the 14th-best recorded assists total in school history, and
was the most since Rodney Stuckey (now with Detroit Pistons) had 10
versus Idaho State on Feb. 22, 2007.

"I couldn't ask for anything more from Glen Dean -- I thought he
was spectacular," said Earlywine of the 2008 graduate of Seattle's
Roosevelt High School. "Glen was terrific tonight."

Dunn, who has scored at least 20 points three times this season,
had two of the highest-scoring games in his Eastern career in
back-to-back nights versus Washington State (Nov. 16) and Whitman
(Nov. 17). He had 17 points versus the Cougars, making 7-of-9 shots
from the field, including 3-of-4 three-point attempts. The next
night he made 7-of-12 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws to finish
with 21 points.

Before this season, his previous career high was 14 points in
games against Montana and Weber State last season on his way to an
average of 5.6 points per game as a 24-game starter. However, he
made only 2-of-11 three-pointers in his previous 31 games as an
Eagle. He helped lead Danville Area Junior College to a
fourth-place finish at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament as
a sophomore in the 2007-08 season. He averaged 5.5 points and 3.9
rebounds that season, with a season-high of 19. As a freshman, he
averaged four points and four boards.

Brandon Moore Selected as Big Sky Player of the
Week: Eastern Washington University senior 6-foot-9 center
Brandon Moore was selected as the co-Big Sky
Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 14, sharing the honor with
Portland State's Phil Nelson. It's the first such honor of Moore's
EWU career, which currently totals 96 games (including 55 starts)
heading into Saturday's (Dec. 19) game at BYU.

Moore had a career-best 26-point effort against Seattle
University on Dec. 12 in which he made 10-of-19 shots from the
field and 6-of-7 free throws in the 100-97 overtime win. Four of
his points came in a 7-0 run in overtime, and he also finished the
game with 11 rebounds and a career-high four assists. His previous
career high for points came as a freshman against The Evergreen
State with 23 points.

A 2005 graduate of Bethel High School in Graham, Wash., Moore is
currently leading the Big Sky in rebounding, although his average
slipped from 9.9 to 8.9 per game when he had just one at Nevada on
Nov. 17. He is also averaging 12.4 points per game as he has
started his senior season with three double-doubles thus far.

Moore has 826 career points, as well as 553 rebounds to rank
fifth in school history (Chris White is fourth with 620 from
1998-01). His 69 career blocked shots ranks him third in school
history (White is second with 79).

Now with nine double-doubles in his career, Moore had the
seventh and eighth double-doubles of his career en route to having
a combined 29 points and 32 rebounds in a roughly 26-hour span in
November. He had 10 points and 13 rebounds in a 67-61 loss to
Washington State on Nov. 16, then had 19 points and 19 rebounds the
next night in a 100-88 win over Whitman.

Moore's 19 rebounds ranks as the third-best performance in
recorded school history. His previous career high for rebounds was
14 versus Portland State on Feb. 28, 2009. He also tied his
career-high with five blocked shots against the Missionaries,
equaling the second-best recorded performance in school history.

Hitting the Century Mark: The Whitman game on
Nov. 17 was the 61st time in school history that Eastern has scored
100 points in a game. Eastern then scored 100 in a 100-97 overtime
victory over Seattle University on Dec. 12.

Before this season, the last time EWU hit the century mark came
in a 100-85 victory over Sacramento State on Jan. 25, 2007, in
which current Detroit Piston Rodney Stuckey scored 31 points.
Eastern had four 100-point performances that season and averaged
84.2 points per game as Stuckey finished his sophomore season with
an average of 24.6 points per game.

Eagles Spend First Month Dealing with Injuries:
The heavy schedule and five injuries in November did not allow the
Eagles to have as productive of practices as head coach
Kirk Earlywine would like. But that has changed
recently as EWU has become healthy again.

The Eagles spent the first month of the season dealing with
injuries to five Eagles -- Gary Gibson (knees),
Brandon Moore (foot and ankle), Abebe
Demissie (hamstring), Kevin Winford
(concussion) and Matthew Brunell (ankle). The
missed time has impacted Eastern not only in games, but in
practice.

"We've already had a season's worth of bad luck," said Earlywine
before Eastern's league opener on Dec. 5. "Hopefully we're close to
being through it and we don't have any more. It's been hard, and
it's been hard because you can't practice effectively."

Brunell and Winford suffered their injuries in the second game
of the season, and Moore missed the Walla Walla game and parts of
another with a sprained ankle. Moore also missed much of the
preseason because of a foot injury that required minor surgery.
Brunell missed five full games and parts of two others; Gibson
missed six games; and Winford missed two.

Eagles Face Three Players Ranked in Top Five Nationally
in Scoring: Eastern's first nine games of the season
included a trio of opposing players ranked among the top five
scorers in NCAA Division I. And one of them the Eagles will have to
face again on Feb. 1.

Through games of Dec. 13, Marquez Haynes from Texas Arlington
was averaging 25.7 points per game to rank second nationally,
Washington State's Klay Thompson was third with a 25.1 average and
Charles Garcia was fifth at 24.6. Thompson scored 24 against the
Eagles and Haynes had 32, but the Eagles held Garcia to just 12 on
4-of-12 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 from the free throw
line.

But Eastern head coach Kirk Earlywine was even
more impressed by Nevada's Luke Babbitt, who made 10-of-18 shots to
finish with 29 points and nine rebounds on Dec. 17 against EWU. He
had entered the game averaging 18.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per
game.

"We've played three of the top five scorers in the country, but
I think Babbitt is by far the best player we've played against,"
praised Earlywine. "He had a couple of easy baskets against us, but
not very many. He made 10 baskets against us, and I would say eight
of them were pro-level shots -- they were 16-foot fadeaways. He has
incredibly long arms and we can't do anything to stop those
buckets. He made tough shots and he's good -- very, very good. My
hat is off to him."

A transfer from Riverside Community College and originally from
Los Angeles, Calif., Garcia has helped the Redhawks become a force
to reckon with in just their second year as a member of NCAA
Division I. A year ago, in the first meeting between the two
schools in more than 23 years, Seattle pulled out a 63-59 overtime
victory. The two schools will play again later this season on Feb.
1 at Key Arena in Seattle.

"We knew we had our hands full against Garcia," Eastern head
coach Kirk Earlywine said after the game. "To be
honest, I didn't know if we could hold him to below 20 because he's
so big and so skilled. The one thing we wanted to do was to keep
him off the free throw line -- we wanted to hold him to single
digit free throw attempts. We wanted to make him earn his baskets
with jump shots, and for the most part we did that."

Garcia had scored 41 points in an 84-83 loss to Wofford College,
and had four double-doubles in his first nine games of the season
-- Weber State (27 points/11 rebounds), Fresno State (21/12), Cal
Poly (26/16) and UC Davis (22/12).

"He's legit -- he's a first-round draft pick," complimented
Earlywine before the game. "He's 6-10 and he handles it like
(Houston Rockets 6-8 guard/forward) Tracy McGrady. He can shoot the
ball and drive it -- he's putting up 20 and 10 numbers against
every team he faces, including on the road. He had 41 the other
night. He's the real deal."

Big Crowds: The Eagles played in front of
14,422 fans at Illinois on Nov. 14, 2008, which is the
sixth-largest crowd EWU has ever played against. A crowd of 11,977
were on hand on Nov. 26, 2008, when EWU played at Minnesota. Those
were the 19th and 20th times since the 2000-01 season that Eastern
has played in front of crowds in excess of 10,000 fans.
Unfortunately, Eastern has failed to win in all 20 of those games.

Eastern's first two games of the 2007-08 season drew crowds of
10,216 (at Washington State) and 12,016 (at New Mexico), Later in
the year on Dec. 12, Eastern lost to Kansas at legendary Allen
Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.

In the 2006 season, the Eagles played in front of 10,000 at
Washington after the previous two games there drew 9,876 (2005) and
9,418 (2004). In the 2004-05 season, Eastern played in front of a
crowd of 14,535 fans at Arizona, 10,216 at Wichita State and 12,000
against Gonzaga. Three of the 10,000+ crowds also came in the
2003-04 season. Several other games have been played in the first
game of pre-season tournaments that have drawn at least that many
fans, but the Eagles haven't faced the host team.

SERIES HISTORY

EWU-BYU Series History: The Eagles are 0-2
all-time against Brigham Young, including a 96-84 loss in the
1989-90 season and a 97-66 setback in 2005-06. In the most recent
meeting, current Detroit Piston Rodney Stuckey
scored 19 points with three assists and three steals, but he made
just 6-of-21 shots from the field.

Eastern is 4-23 all-time against current members of the Mountain
West Conference (3-3 vs. San Diego State, 1-1 vs. Air Force, 0-5
vs. New Mexico, 0-5 vs. Colorado State, 0-5 vs. Wyoming, 0-2 vs.
BYU, 0-1 vs. UNLV, 0-1 vs. Utah, 0-0 vs. TCU). The most recent
meetings were a 92-57 loss at New Mexico on Nov. 12, 2007, and an
82-79 loss at UNLV on Nov. 14, 2006. Eastern fell at Wyoming 78-71
in a NIT first round game on March 20, 2003.11/25/89
L Brigham
Young 84-96 A
12/27/05
L Brigham
Young 66-97 A

EWU versus Chicago State, Wagner and Jackson
State: Eastern has played Chicago State twice before, but
has never played Wagner or Jackson State. Eastern defeated Chicago
State 67-66 at home on Feb. 2, 1985, then lost on the road two
years later 83-71.2/2/85
W Chicago
State 67-66 H1/10/87
L Chicago
State 71-83 A

KIRK EARLYWINE COMMENTS

On Freshmen Against Seattle: "Our players grew
up a little bit against Seattle. I looked out there and a couple of
times we had four freshmen on the floor at the same time -- Abebe,
Kevin, Glen and Jeffrey. Seattle University is a good team -- they
are well-coached and their style of play makes it difficult on you.
But our players did a good job against that, and considering that
there were times we had four freshmen on the floor together, I
thought they handled themselves pretty well. All of our freshmen
played well and it was nice to have the real Kevin Winford back.
Ever since he suffered a concussion at Washington State, he hasn't
been right. I think maybe against Seattle we got him back."

On Utilizing Zone Defense Versus Seattle: "We
need to have a zone defense -- it's helped us at times in the past.
But you have so many things early in the season you have to work on
and concentrate on, so we didn't have a zone until two days before
the Seattle game. It was not the world's best zone by any means,
but it bought us some time, it kept us from fouling a few times and
it kept them from driving the ball as much as they would have
liked. It's something we have to continue to clean-up and work on."

On Abebe Demissie and His First Career Start Versus
Seattle: "He gives us some length on the perimeter that we
don't have, and he has good skills -- he's a good ball-handler and
passer. And he rebounds -- 12 points, eight rebounds and six
assists for a freshman -- I'll take that. He has terrific vision
and his size allows him to make him some passes that our small
guards can't make."

SEASON NOTES

EWU Season Recap Thus Far -- Eastern opened the
season with a 64-58 loss to Portland on Nov. 14 after a pair of
exhibition wins (98-61 over Saint Martin's and 67-58 over Montana
State-Billings). The Eagles lost by just six points despite making
only 32 percent from the field (15-of-47), allowing Portland to
make 7-of-13 three-pointers and getting out-rebounded 37-24.

"I liked our shots -- we just didn't make them," said head coach
Kirk Earlywine. "It's hard to win when you
compound getting out-rebounded with giving up 54 percent from the
arc and pile on top of that shooting 32 percent. Really, it's
surprising that we were in the game with a chance."

The Eagles followed that with a 67-61 loss at Pacific 10
Conference member Washington State. The Eagles, who had a 17-9 lead
early in the game, rallied with a 15-5 run late in the game to pull
within one at 62-61 with 1:04 left. But the Cougars sandwiched a
three-pointer and two free throws in the final 44 seconds around an
Eagle turnover to score the final five points of the game.

The following night in a 100-88 helter-skelter victory over NCAA
Division III Whitman College, Eastern made 50 percent of its shots
from the field, had a 54-35 rebounding advantage and scored 56
points inside the paint. However, EWU finished with 30 turnovers to
come one away from the school record of 31 against Washington in
1995. The game included 49 total turnovers, 56 total fouls (30 by
Whitman) and 79 total free throws.

Despite playing its fourth game in eight days, the Eagles
registered a 72-68 road victory at Texas Arlington on Nov. 21.
Freshman Jeffrey Forbes had 24 points as the
Eagles led from start to finish, opening a 16-point lead in the
first half.

The Eagles followed that with an 82-69 home loss to Boise State
as the Broncos took a 10-0 lead with eight early fast-break points.
After BSU led by 14 at halftime, Eastern cut the lead to one in the
second half. But eight-straight Bronco points helped put the lead
out of reach as they equaled their biggest lead of 14 twice.

The Idaho game on Nov. 28 followed a similar pattern as the
Eagles fell behind by scores of 12-3 and 36-15, and trailed at
halftime 45-23. Both teams scored 31 points in the second half, and
the game earlier EWU actually out-scored Boise State 39-38 after
intermission.

The Eagles led from start to finish in their 89-61 victory on
Dec. 1 against Walla Walla University, with Mark
Dunn scoring 17 of his career-high 23 points in the first
half. In the following game against Portland State on Dec. 5, the
Eagles had no answer for the 69 percent shooting night by Portland
State and fell 98-75. The Vikings made 33-of-48 shots in the game,
including a blistering 16-of-21 in the first half as EWU allowed
its most points in nearly three years. Portland State used a 12-0
run in the first half to take the lead for good, then scored 10
unanswered points in the second half to pull away.

The Eagles followed the PSU game with a week off, then recorded
a 100-97 overtime home victory over Seattle University on Dec. 12.
The game featured 12 lead changes and seven ties, and the final
time the game was knotted was at 87-all with 3:01 to play in
overtime. But EWU's Glen Dean hit a driving layin,
followed by a pair of baskets by Brandon Moore.
Dean closed the 7-0 run with a free throw to give EWU a 94-87
advantage with 1:09 to play. Eastern, which had forced the overtime
with a basket with 10 seconds to play in regulation by Dunn, closed
the scoring in overtime with a pair of free throws by Kevin
Winford with seven seconds left.

Eastern didn't have the same late-game magic against Nevada on
Dec. 17, as Nevada's Brandon Fields nailed a three-pointer with 4.3
seconds to play to defeat Eastern 73-70. Freshman guard
Glen Dean, who finished with 13 points and 10
assists for the Eagles, missed a desperation three-pointer at the
buzzer in a game that featured 15 ties and seven lead changes.
Eastern missed four of its last five shots, including a pair with
the game knotted at 70.

Eagles Now 2-1 in December League Openers: The
Dec. 5 start to league play in a 98-75 loss at Portland State
represented the earliest Big Sky Conference opener in school
history. Last year, the Eagles opened league play on Dec. 6 with a
61-55 home win over Montana State, and the previous season opened
on Dec. 22 with a 58-57 home victory over Portland State. However,
both seasons the Eagles failed to qualify for the six-team Big Sky
Conference Tournament.

Eastern, picked to finish eighth in the league race by both the
media and coaches, took on PSU in its first league game. The
Vikings were selected to finish second by the media and fourth by
the coaches. Despite EWU's success in its opener the last two
years, Eastern head coach Kirk Earlywine would
much rather open league play in the more traditional month of
January, not just a few weeks into the season.

"I've made my feelings pretty well known about playing the first
conference game in early December," he explained. "But we've
actually been ready to play that game the last two seasons. I
shouldn't be too critical because we've won our opener each of the
past two years."

Following the PSU game, Eastern will resume league play on Dec.
31. Eastern is hoping its five senior letter winners and talented
newcomers will help the Eagles earn their first Big Sky Conference
Tournament berth in four seasons when that event takes place on
March 6, 9 and 10. However, Earlywine expects several other league
teams to feature even more returning starters and experience.

"The league is going to be very, very good," he said. "Top to
bottom, it may be as good as it's been in the last 10 years. I told
our team after our last game last season that our challenge was to
go catch the other teams in the league. Nobody is backing up, so we
have to go catch them. Our focus has been on doing what we have to
do to improve and not count on other teams to stub their toe."

Earlywine has been in the Big Sky Conference for nearly 10 years
now, dating back to 1999 when he became an assistant at Weber
State. He knows the January to March grind in the league is
difficult, but it's made even more difficult this season with the
cost-saving measure of playing most weekend doubleheaders on
Friday/Saturday instead of Thursday/Saturday.

"The travel difficulties haven't changed - we still have nine
institutions spread over eight states," he said. "You go from sea
level to altitude, and one time zone to another. It's tough."

Schedule includes games with Washington State and
Gonzaga: Eastern's 2009-10 schedule is
highlighted by non-conference games against Washington State and
Gonzaga, as well as the earliest Big Sky Conference start in school
history.

Eastern opens its league schedule on the early date of Dec. 5,
giving the Eagles two exhibition games and seven non-conference
games to prepare for league play. Among those seven games, Eastern
hosts Portland on Nov. 14 and Boise State on Nov. 24, and plays
road games at Washington State on Nov. 16 and Idaho on Nov. 28.

"I like our non-conference schedule and the fact we're not stuck
on the road very long," Eastern head coach Kirk
Earlywine said. "But November is very tough and we have to
be ready right from the start."

Eastern plays at Portland State on Dec. 5 before resuming league
play on Dec. 31 at home against Sacramento State. The other
non-conference games for the Eagles include road games at Nevada
(Dec.17), Brigham Young (Dec. 19) and Gonzaga (Dec. 28), as well as
an appearance in the four-team Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans
Arena on Dec. 22-23.

In addition, Eastern plays both at home (Dec. 12) and on the
road (Feb. 1) against Seattle University, a newcomer in NCAA
Division I in the 2008-09 season. Seattle defeated the Eagles in
overtime last season, but the Eagles were able to edge both
Portland (63-58) and Idaho (69-59) before both of those teams
finished strong in the West Coast Conference and Western Athletic
Conference, respectively.

"We have our hands full with our non-conference schedule, but
that's always the case," Earlywine said. "Now that Portland and
Idaho have elevated their programs in the last year, it makes our
non-conference schedule that much tougher.

Eagles Versus Ranked Teams: The 2008-09 season
was the first time 2002-03 that Eastern did not play a
nationally-ranked team. The Eagles played 12 such games in the five
seasons before that.

Eastern 12-68 Versus the Pacific 10 Conference:
Following a 67-61 loss at Washington State on Nov. 16, 2009, the
Eagles are now 11-52 in the all-time series against Washington
State, to go along with a 1-10 record all-time against Washington.
Eastern is 0-6 against other members of the Pacific 10 Conference,
giving the Eagles a 12-68 record all-time against that league.

Eastern losses to Washington each of the previous six seasons
(2003-2008), and has a current 10-game losing streak versus the Pac
10. Eastern lost at Washington 83-50 on Dec. 20, 2008, and the year
prior, lost to Washington State 68-41 on Nov. 9, 2007, and
Washington 82-68 on Nov. 18, 2007.

Eastern's win at Washington in the 2002-03 season snapped a
five-game losing streak versus Pacific 10 Conference opponents
dating back to Eastern's 83-82 overtime win versus Washington State
on Dec. 22, 1997, in Kennewick, Wash. That victory over WSU was
Eastern's first-ever victory over a Pacific 8 or Pacific 10
Conference opponent since the inception of the conference in 1968.
It was also Eastern's first win over Washington State since Dec. 1,
1952, when the Eagles pulled out a 72-71 overtime win in Pullman.
The Cougars had led the all-time series 49-10 and had won
17-straight games over the Eagles prior to that EWU victory.

Eastern's lone victory over the Huskies was 62-58 in December
2002. Washington won the previous four meetings which all took
place between 1990 and 1997.

Other recent meetings against the Pac 10 have yielded losses to
Oregon (100-74 on Dec. 15, 2006), Arizona (79-45 on Dec. 28, 2004),
California (56-27 on Nov. 16, 2001 and 94-63 on Nov. 25, 1998),
Oregon State (58-50 on Dec. 19, 2000 and 78-62 on Dec. 15, 1999)
and Washington State (91-72 on Dec. 5, 1998).